In this page

Version history

Version Date Notes
4.2.0 28/03/2024 Support for Jira Product Discovery. Support for Atlassian teams. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
4.1.0 07/01/2024 Support for themes (light and dark mode). Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
4.0.0 26/05/2022 Improved sandboxing. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
3.5.0 05/04/2022 Early compatibility with the deprecation of the "Epic Link", "Parent Link" and other fields. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
3.4.0 28/03/2022 Zephyr Squad reports. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
3.3.0 23/02/2022 Tempo Timesheets reports. Cloud Fortified. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
3.2.0 27/01/2022 "Non-empty fields" export mode. Dynamic (value-based) field formats. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
3.1.0 17/11/2021 Generally available version with commercial support. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide
0.7.0 24/08/2021 Invite-only Early Access release. Release Notes & Upgrade Guide

Release notes

4.2.0

This version introduces support for Jira Product Discovery and Atlassian teams.

Support for Jira Product Discovery

Jira Product Discovery is Atlassian's latest Jira-based service, built for product teams to prioritize ideas and to align everyone with product roadmaps.

From this release, Better Excel Exporter can export the Jira Product Discovery specific custom fields to Excel spreadsheets.

Support for Atlassian teams

Recently, Atlassian made the previously Advanced Roadmaps exclusive "Teams" feature available for all Jira Cloud sites. It is now simply called Atlassian teams.

From this release, Better Excel Exporter can export the Atlassian team related custom field to Excel spreadsheets. (The field is called "Team" and has the type "Team Picker (single team)".)

Improvements
  • Support for the new cell type boolean.
  • Values of "URL Field" type custom fields are now exported as clickable hyperlinks, not as non-clickable plain text.
Bugfixes
  • Fixed: When exporting with the project-export.xlsx template, if a project's key is a reserved JQL keyword the export fails with "net.sf.jett.exception.AttributeExpressionException: Null value or expected variable missing in expression "${projectExport.allProjects}".".
Upgrading from 4.0.0

You need to update three Groovy scripts. It takes less than a minute, follow the guide below.

Steps:

  1. Download the ZIP that contains the latest template files: better-excel-exporter-for-jira-cloud-4.2.0-templates.zip, and extract it.
  2. Login to Jira as administrator, go to Apps → Manage your apps → Excel Templates (under Better Excel Exporter).
  3. Upgrade the field-helper-tool.groovy template file:
    1. If you haven't made any changes in the original field-helper-tool.groovy file, then just upload the new template (the one you just downloaded) and you are done.
    2. If you made changes to the original field-helper-tool.groovy, you will need to migrate those to the new template.
      1. In case of an .xlsx file, check the current modifications made to the previous original version of the template, then re-apply them to the new version.
      2. In case of a .groovy file:
        1. Open the file from the directory where you extracted the ZIP.
        2. If you haven't made any changes in the original file, then just copy-paste the content of the new template (the one you just downloaded) to the editor, save it and you are done.
        3. If you made changes to the original, you will need to migrate those to the new template. This should be done by comparing the content of your current file with the new one, and merging all changes you made in the former to the latter. Use a visual merge tool (like WinMerge or Eclipse's compare and merge editor), and it should be trivial.
  4. Repeat the previous step also for the following files:
    1. issue-navigator.groovy
    2. project-export.groovy
  5. Enjoy!

4.1.0

This version introduces support for Jira Cloud themes.

Support for themes (light and dark mode)

Atlassian recently implemented the so-called dark mode in Jira Cloud. From this version, the Better Excel Exporter app looks great also in dark mode (in every theme, actually)!

This mixed montage demonstrates the dark mode in the left and the light mode in the right:

Note that our implementation is future-proof: it is designed to be compatible with future themes and future changes in existing themes.

Upgrading from 4.0.0

These changes were silently deployed to all Jira Cloud sites. You don't need to do anything!

4.0.0

This major version improves software security with an enhanced sandbox implementation.

Improved sandboxing

Without going into details, the enhanced sandbox implementation restricts the environment in which Excel templates and Groovy scripts are rendered and executed with additional controls. It results in even better isolation between exports and even tighter control over resource access.

This release is a part of Midori's long-term commitment to offer the most feature-rich, most flexible, most scalable, most secure, yet inexpensive exporter apps for Jira Cloud. Please find all our software security related information in the Security and Trust page.

Upgrading from 3.5.0

Just update your app version using UPM (Universal Plugin Manager, the app manager built in to Jira Cloud).

3.5.0

This version prepares for an important change made on issue fields that Atlassian is rolling out over a longer period of time.

Atlassian decided to deprecate multiple Jira Cloud fields which represent different types of parent-child relations. These include "Epic Link" and "Parent Link", primarily. All these will be replaced with the "Parent" system field.

Atlassian is rolling out this change over a longer period of time, also including a transitional period during which the "old" and the "new" behaviors co-exist. You can learn more about these in the related Development Community topic.

Because our app exports the fields affected by this change, the change indirectly affects the app itself, as well. How do we handle it?

We designed an approach that doesn't make any assumption about the change and the roll-out progress. The principle is that if a value is there in an affected field, we will export it, period. Therefore, the app will work "as expected" before the transitional period, during the transitional period, after the change has been completely rolled out, and even if Atlassian decides to revert the change!

There is a minor change in the format of the "Parent" field value though:

  1. In previous versions, it was exported as the parent's issue key only.
    Example: "FOO-123".
  2. Starting from this version, it is exported as the issue key, the summary and type of the parent in brackets.
    Example: "FOO-123 Android support (Epic)".

Notes on the new format:

  • We decided to include the parent summary in the format, because "Parent" replaces "Epic Link", and "Epic Link" values were exported as the epic name. A reasonable replacement should not lose that piece of information.
  • We decided to include the parent type in the format, because it helps to understand what type of parent-child relation it is. For example, an "Epic" type parent suggests that it's an epic-story relation, while a "Task" parent suggests a task-subtask relation.

Also note that Epic-type issues rather confusingly have the "Summary" system field and also the "Epic Name" custom field. Most users enter the same value to both, because there isn't an obvious difference between the two. (In fact, "Epic Name" exists mostly due to historical reasons.) We prefer the summary in exports, because this field will just work for any type of parent. That way, we implicitly assume that you are using identical epic summaries and epic names.

Upgrading from 3.4.0

You need to update two Groovy scripts to be compatible with the deprecation. It takes only a minute, follow the guide below.

Steps:

  1. Upgrade the app as usual, through the Universal Plugin Manager.
  2. Download the ZIP that contains the latest template files: better-excel-exporter-for-jira-cloud-3.5.0-templates.zip, and extract it.
  3. Login to Jira as administrator, go to Apps → Manage your apps → Excel Templates (under Better Excel Exporter).
  4. Upgrade the field-helper-tool.groovy template file:
    1. If you haven't made any changes in the original field-helper-tool.groovy file, then just upload the new template (the one you just downloaded) and you are done.
    2. If you made changes to the original field-helper-tool.groovy, you will need to migrate those to the new template.
      1. In case of an .xlsx file, check the current modifications made to the previous original version of the template, then re-apply them to the new version.
      2. In case of a .groovy file:
        1. Open the file from the directory where you extracted the ZIP.
        2. If you haven't made any changes in the original file, then just copy-paste the content of the new template (the one you just downloaded) to the editor, save it and you are done.
        3. If you made changes to the original, you will need to migrate those to the new template. This should be done by comparing the content of your current file with the new one, and merging all changes you made in the former to the latter. Use a visual merge tool (like WinMerge or Eclipse's compare and merge editor), and it should be trivial.
  5. Repeat the previous step also for the software-report.groovy file.
  6. Enjoy!

3.4.0

This version introduces a selection of ready-to-use Zephyr Squad reports. Our motivation for this release with Zephyr Squad reports is essentially the same as it was for 3.3.0 with Tempo Timesheets reports. Additionally, there are new views to export the Zephyr Squad test step results together with the corresponding test step details.

Zephyr Squad reports

As you probably know, Better Excel Exporter already supports exporting Zephyr Squad specific information. It includes test steps, test executions, step results and such.

Starting from this version, we provide ready-to-use templates for the most frequent Zephyr Squad reporting needs:

  1. test results by project, version, test cycle, tester and other fields
  2. testers' load and performance by project, version, test cycle, result, defects and other fields
  3. total number of execution-level and step-level defects reported during testing by project, version, test cycle, tester and other fields
  4. test execution history (test execution log) by project, version, test cycle, results, defects and other fields in year/month/day resolution

As always, you can use these as is, customize them, or use them as starting point to create completely new Zephyr Squad reports.

See some sample exports from Zephyr Squad and learn more about this integration.

New views: Zephyr Squad test step results with test step details

Exporting test step details (step instructions, step data, expected result) and step results (actual result, defects) of Zephyr Squad tests have been available since the beginning, but only to separate exports. In this release we introduced a new template that exports both to the same Excel spreadsheet for the complete picture.

It is available through 2 new default views: exporting the test data with the current fields or with all non-empty fields.

Upgrading from 3.3.0

In order to get the new Zephyr Squad reports, you have to create new views, templates and scripts. It takes only a few minutes, follow the guide below.

Steps:

  1. Upgrade the app as usual, through the Universal Plugin Manager.
  2. Download the ZIP that contains the latest template files: better-excel-exporter-for-jira-cloud-3.4.0-templates.zip, and extract it.
  3. Login to Jira as administrator, go to Apps → Manage your apps → Excel Templates (under Better Excel Exporter).
  4. Upgrade the zephyr-tool.groovy template file:
    1. If you haven't made any changes in the original zephyr-tool.groovy file, then just upload the new template (the one you just downloaded) and you are done.
    2. If you made changes to the original zephyr-tool.groovy, you will need to migrate those to the new template.
      1. In case of an .xlsx file, check the current modifications made to the previous original version of the template, then re-apply them to the new version.
      2. In case of a .groovy file:
        1. Open the file from the directory where you extracted the ZIP.
        2. If you haven't made any changes in the original file, then just copy-paste the content of the new template (the one you just downloaded) to the editor, save it and you are done.
        3. If you made changes to the original, you will need to migrate those to the new template. This should be done by comparing the content of your current file with the new one, and merging all changes you made in the former to the latter. Use a visual merge tool (like WinMerge or Eclipse's compare and merge editor), and it should be trivial.
  5. Note: if you have used Zephyr Squad previously, then even if you haven't made any actual customization to zephyr-tool.groovy, you still entered a Zephyr Squad access key and a shared secret to the script code when enabling this integration. Now, either the access key and shared secret must be migrated to the new script version (just copy over the variable values), or the integration must be re-enabled with a new access key and shared secret.
  6. Then, create the new file zephyr-report-tool.groovy:
    1. In Jira, click the Upload button under the Excel Templates list. Find the zephyr-report-tool.groovy file among the unzipped files, and select it.
    2. Check if the new file has appeared in the template list.
  7. Repeat the previous step also for the following files:
    1. issue-navigator-with-zephyr-test-steps-and-results.xlsx
    2. zephyr-defect-report.xlsx
    3. zephyr-test-execution-history-report.xlsx
    4. zephyr-test-result-report.xlsx
    5. zephyr-tester-report.xlsx
  8. To create a new export option in the Export to Excel dialog:
    1. Go to Excel Views (in the left-side bar) and click Add a new view.
    2. Enter "Zephyr Test Steps + Results (Curr. Fields)" as name, enter "Export the currently visible fields and the Zephyr Squad test steps with step results." as description, check the Issue Navigator context option, select the template file issue-navigator-with-zephyr-test-steps-and-results.xlsx, and save it. (Do not select any context if you don't want to activate this view right now. You can activate it any time later by selecting contexts here.)
    3. Using the arrows, move the new view after "Zephyr Step Results (Non-E. Fields)" in the list.
  9. Repeat the previous step also with the following templates:
    1. issue-navigator-with-zephyr-test-steps-and-results.xlsx (view name: "Zephyr Test Steps + Results (Non-E. F.)", description: "Export all non-empty fields and the Zephyr Squad test steps with step results.", contexts: Single Issue View, Issue Navigator, Jira Software Backlog and Board)
    2. zephyr-test-result-report.xlsx (view name: "Zephyr Test Result Report", description: "Create a pivot report from the test executions per versions and cycles.", contexts: Single Issue View, Issue Navigator)
    3. zephyr-tester-report.xlsx (view name: "Zephyr Tester Report", description: "Create a pivot report from the test executions per testers.", contexts: Single Issue View, Issue Navigator)
    4. zephyr-defect-report.xlsx (view name: "Zephyr Defect Report", description: "Create a pivot report from the defects found during test executions.", contexts: Single Issue View, Issue Navigator)
    5. zephyr-test-execution-history-report.xlsx (view name: "Zephyr Test Execution History Report", description: "Create a pivot report from the count of test executions over time.", contexts: Single Issue View, Issue Navigator)
  10. Enjoy!

3.3.0

This version introduces a selection of ready-to-use Tempo Timesheets reports. Additionally, the app has been certified as Cloud Fortified by Atlassian. (It is, in short, acknowledged as an enterprise-ready solution.)

Tempo Timesheets reports

As you probably know, Better Excel Exporter already supports exporting Tempo Timesheets-specific custom fields (like Account and Team) and Tempo Timesheets-managed worklogs to Excel. In fact, those have been supported since the very first app version, and it has always been possible to create custom Excel reports from Tempo Timesheets data.

Starting from this version, we provide ready-to-use templates for the most frequent Tempo Timesheets reporting needs:

  1. total time logged by Tempo account, project, issue type, status, assignee and other fields
  2. time logged over a time period (day, week, month, year) by Tempo team, Tempo account, project, issue type, status, assignee and other fields

As always, you can use these as is, customize them, or use them as starting point to create completely new Tempo Timesheets reports.

See some sample exports from Tempo Timesheets and learn more about this integration.

Better Excel Exporter is a Cloud Fortified app!

We are proud to announce that Better Excel Exporter for Jira Cloud has been certified as a Cloud Fortified app by Atlassian.

Cloud Fortified is a classification to highlight enterprise-ready cloud apps with the advanced level of security, reliability, and support. In order to achieve this classification, the app participates in all Atlassian-mandated security programs.

These Atlassian-led and self inspections proved that:

  • Better Excel Exporter Cloud is compliant with advanced security requirements.
  • Incident handling mechanisms have been confirmed to be in place and prepared to respond in a timely fashion.
  • Vulnerability detection and review processes are also integrated with Atlassian’s for faster recovery and continuous improvement.

Learn more about Atlassian’s Marketplace App Trust programs (which include Cloud Fortified).

Upgrading from 3.2.0

In order to get the new Tempo Timesheets reports, you have to create new views, templates and scripts. It takes only a few minutes, follow the guide below.

Steps:

  1. Upgrade the app as usual, through the Universal Plugin Manager.
  2. Download the ZIP that contains the latest template files: better-excel-exporter-for-jira-cloud-3.3.0-templates.zip, and extract it.
  3. Login to Jira as administrator, go to Apps → Manage your apps → Excel Templates (under Better Excel Exporter).
  4. Upgrade the tempo-tool.groovy template file:
    1. If you haven't made any changes in the original tempo-tool.groovy file, then just upload the new template (the one you just downloaded) and you are done.
    2. If you made changes to the original tempo-tool.groovy, you will need to migrate those to the new template.
      1. In case of an .xlsx file, check the current modifications made to the previous original version of the template, then re-apply them to the new version.
      2. In case of a .groovy file:
        1. Open the file from the directory where you extracted the ZIP.
        2. If you haven't made any changes in the original file, then just copy-paste the content of the new template (the one you just downloaded) to the editor, save it and you are done.
        3. If you made changes to the original, you will need to migrate those to the new template. This should be done by comparing the content of your current file with the new one, and merging all changes you made in the former to the latter. Use a visual merge tool (like WinMerge or Eclipse's compare and merge editor), and it should be trivial.
  5. Note: if you have used Tempo Timesheets previously, then even if you haven't made any actual customization to tempo-tool.groovy, you still entered the Tempo Timesheets API access token to the script code when enabling this integration. Now, either the access token must be migrated to the new script version (just copy over the variable value), or the integration must be re-enabled with a new token.
  6. Then, create the new file tempo-report-tool.groovy:
    1. In Jira, click the Upload button under the Excel Templates list. Find the tempo-report-tool.groovy file among the unzipped files, and select it.
    2. Check if the new file has appeared in the template list.
  7. Repeat the previous step also for the following files:
    1. tempo-report-account.xlsx
    2. tempo-report-team.xlsx
  8. To create a new export option in the Export to Excel dialog:
    1. Go to Excel Views (in the left-side bar) and click Add a new view.
    2. Enter "Tempo Account Report" as name, enter "Create a pivot report from the time logged to each Tempo account." as description, check the Issue Navigator, Jira Software Backlog and Board context options, select the template file tempo-report-account.xlsx, and save it. (Do not select any context if you don't want to activate this view right now. You can activate it any time later by selecting contexts here.)
    3. Using the arrows, move the new view after "Tempo Worklogs (Non-E. Fields Repeating)" in the list.
  9. Repeat the previous step also with the following templates:
    1. tempo-report-team.xlsx (view name: "Tempo Team Report", description: "Create a pivot report from the time logged by Tempo teams.")
  10. Enjoy!

3.2.0

This version introduces two important improvements to create better Excel spreadsheets faster.

"Non-empty fields" export mode

Previous app versions supported two export modes:

  1. "Current fields" mode: in this mode, those fields that you selected in the Issue Navigator are exported to Excel. It is very easy to use, intuitive and practical for most export use cases.
  2. "All fields" mode: in this mode, all the fields that exist in Jira are exported to Excel! If there exists a large number of custom fields in Jira, this mode may export hard-to-use, super-wide spreadsheets with lots of empty cells. Especially so, if you have unused custom fields or custom fields that are applicable only to a subset of issues (e.g. to certain issue types or to certain projects). Generally speaking, this mode is less practical for "human readers", but useful for data archival or for data migration to external systems.

In this version, we introduced a third mode called "non-empty fields". As the name implies, it exports those fields which have a non-empty value for at least one exported issue. In other words, it is like "all fields", but with the completely empty columns skipped. Or, it is the "noise-reduced" version of "all fields", if you like.

For example, if you export stories from Jira Software, the all-empty column "Customer request type" will not be created as it is specific to Jira Service Management tickets. Similarly, if you export Jira Service Management tickets, "Story points" will not be exported.

We really think that "non-empty fields" works better than "all fields" in most situations, therefore we made it the new default. (Nevertheless, the old "all fields" mode can still be configured.)

Learn more about the non-empty fields mode.

Dynamic (value-based) field formats

Exporting cell values immediately in the precise format that the user expects is critical for productivity. If the format is not optimal, the user needs to waste his time with re-adjusting it in Excel before he could start his real work.

Previous app versions enabled configuring the cell format at the column level (same format for all values in the field), but now we allow configuring it at the cell level (different format depending on the field value)!

For example, previous versions allowed exporting "Due date" in the preferred date format (which is the same for each value in that column), but now the expired due date values are exported in red! Or, as another example, you can export priority values "Highest" and "High" in orange. This can be a game changer for readability, and it is fully customizable!

Learn more about dynamic field formats.

Upgrading from 3.1.0

Due to the changes that "non-empty" mode brought to the table, on top of upgrading your resources, you have to upgrade your views as well. Please execute the following steps precisely to get all the improvements introduced in this version.

Steps:

  1. Upgrade the app as usual, through the Universal Plugin Manager.
  2. Download the ZIP that contains the latest template files: better-excel-exporter-for-jira-cloud-3.2.0-templates.zip, and extract it.
  3. Login to Jira as administrator, go to Apps → Manage your apps → Excel Templates (under Better Excel Exporter).
  4. Upgrade the field-helper-tool.groovy template file:
    1. If you haven't made any changes in the original field-helper-tool.groovy file, then just upload the new template (the one you just downloaded) and you are done.
    2. If you made changes to the original field-helper-tool.groovy, you will need to migrate those to the new template.
      1. In case of an .xlsx file, check the current modifications made to the previous original version of the template, then re-apply them to the new version.
      2. In case of a .groovy file:
        1. Open the file from the directory where you extracted the ZIP.
        2. If you haven't made any changes in the original file, then just copy-paste the content of the new template (the one you just downloaded) to the editor, save it and you are done.
        3. If you made changes to the original, you will need to migrate those to the new template. This should be done by comparing the content of your current file with the new one, and merging all changes you made in the former to the latter. Use a visual merge tool (like WinMerge or Eclipse's compare and merge editor), and it should be trivial.
  5. Repeat the previous step also for the following files:
    1. issue-navigator.groovy
    2. issue-navigator.xlsx
    3. issue-navigator-with-comments.xlsx
    4. issue-navigator-with-history.xlsx
    5. issue-navigator-with-repeating-history.xlsx
    6. issue-navigator-with-repeating-tempo-worklogs.xlsx
    7. issue-navigator-with-repeating-worklogs.xlsx
    8. issue-navigator-with-tempo-worklogs.xlsx
    9. issue-navigator-with-worklogs.xlsx
    10. issue-navigator-with-zephyr-test-executions.xlsx
    11. issue-navigator-with-zephyr-test-step-results.xlsx
    12. issue-navigator-with-zephyr-test-steps.xlsx
  6. We believe that Excel views using the "non-empty fields" mode will suit your needs better than those created by previous app versions and using "all fields" mode, so we made those the new default. We have also re-configured and re-ordered the views to provide the most intuitive Excel export options in each context (screen). So we strongly recommend upgrading your existing views, but instead of going one by one, follow these steps to complete the upgrade faster:
    1. Go to Apps → Manage your apps → Excel Views (under Better Excel Exporter).
    2. Open the same page again in another browser tab. The idea is that in the first tab you will be able to see your old Excel views during the upgrade, which include your custom Excel views if you created any in the past. (Obviously, do not reload the first tab until the upgrade is completed!)
    3. In the second browser tab, click Reset all views under the list. It will delete all existing Excel views (including your custom Excel views), and re-create the default ones. Consequently, it will give you the working "factory defaults".
    4. Finally, you need to re-create your custom Excel views that were deleted in the previous step. Still in the second browser tab, re-create the custom Excel views that are still visible in the first tab. If you had no custom Excel views, you can skip this step.
  7. Enjoy!

3.1.0

Better Excel Exporter for Jira Cloud is now generally available on the Atlassian Marketplace!

After a successful Early Access Program and two months in alpha, then beta statuses, we are happy to announce that Better Excel Exporter for Jira Cloud is now ready for production use!

Read our product launch announcement and learn more about the experience of our EAP users.

If you are migrating from Jira Server or Data Center, make sure you explore the Better Excel Exporter migration guide. It explains what steps you need to take to seamlessly switch to the Cloud platform with Better Excel Exporter, as well as the feature differences between the Server and Cloud versions.

Happy reporting!

0.7.0

Early Access Program for Better Excel Exporter Cloud

This version is available for EAP participants only. EAP users are Better Excel Exporter customers currently on Jira Sever or Data Center platforms or Jira Cloud users who indicated their interest early in a professional and reliable Excel reporting and exporting app.